Stamping or printing device.



F. W. TULLY.

STAMPING 0R PRINTING DEVICE.-

APPLICATION FILED ocT. 3o. 1914.

1,177,740. Patented Apr. 4, 1916.

7U Z mm AT6 IOFI OI aaAM, Mo'reoe UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS W. TULLY, F BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS.

smi/:PING on PRINTING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

`Patented Apr. 4,1916.

.Application 1ed October 30. 1914. Serial No. 869,475.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, FRANCIS W. TULLY, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Brookline, in the county of Norfolk and 'State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Stamping or Printin Devicesv of which the following is a s eci cation.

his invention relates to a stamping or printing device especially designed .for use 1n marking or entering certaln data in sales transactions upon sales slips such as are commonly used in retail stores.

According to the practice commonly followed in' making entries on sales slips, the sales person writes down with pencil or stylus the name and price of the article purchased, the date, the sales persons number,.

, particular store. The customer receives one copy as a voucher or receipt, and the other copy or copies are used by the store, one part usually going to the accounting department, and the other part to the shipping or delivery department, where-the slip is used just as written as an addressing label for the package containing the purchase. The hurried and frequently illegible writing of the sales person is therefore the sole guide for the accounting department and also for the delivery department. It often happens that owing to the illegible or incorrect writing on the sales slip mistakes arise inv lving delay and loss, such as the charging o goods to the wrong account,

or the failure to decipher the name at all, or

the failure. of the delivery department to read the name and address correctly in con-- sequence of which goods are left at wrong addresses and lost or delayed in delivery. Other defects in the presentsystem due to the illegible writing of the purchasers name and address might be mentioned, but these will sufficiently indicate the'necessity for improvement and for a device whichwill insure a clearly printed legible name and address, or other data .as desired. A stamping or printing device adapted to the use above mentioned not only removes the possi- Ability of inaccuracy, but also saves the time consumed 1n writing the entry, which is an important consideration in a busy store.

The marker used in my stamping device is also -adapted to take the place of a store coin, so-called, or indentification piece for charge customers, as hereinafter more fully eX- plained. l

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate one embodiment of the invention,

Figure l is a perspective view of a stamping or printing device containing the invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged bottom plan View of the marker or stamping plate used in my 1nvention; Fig. 3 is an end -view of said marker; Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of the marker holder, the location of a marker secured thereto being indicated in dotted lines; Fig. 5 is an enlarged cross section on line 5-5, Fig. 4; and Fig.'6 is a perspective view of another form of marker.

The stamping mechanism, which may be of anydesired style, as herein shown consists of a frame a, carrying the vertically reciprocating plunger b, having the handle or knob c at its upper end, and the bed plate d at its lower end, which constitutes the marker holder upon which the marker hereinafter described is removably supported. The marker holder d is provided at each end with a lug e which works in vertical slots f in the ends of frame a, thereby guiding the marker holder al in its motion up 'and down. A spring g normally tends to hold the marker holder in elevated position.

The marker holder d is made at one edge with a. fixed retaininglip h, and at its other edge with one or more yielding retaining lips,- herein shown as springs z', secured to the upper side of the holder d and extending around the edge thereof. On the under surface, which is the marker receiving surface,` of the marker holder d, is aprojection j,-

preferably located near one edge of the marker receiving surface and preferably in the form of a wedge-shaped lug as best shown in Fig. 4.

The marker shown in Figs. 2-5 consists of a sheet metal plate la having thereon raised types Z furnishing the name and address of a customer to whom the marker is issued or such other data as may be desired. In one j margin of the marker lo is a recess or notch n which in position and shape corresponds to and is the complement of the projection j on the marker holder. On the opposite edge of the marker plate c is a projection m. which is used as a finger piece in manipulat ing the marker as hereinafter described.

In the form shown in Fig. 6, the marker or name plate is made of sheet metal bent into the form illustrated to provide the lengthwise extending salient or projecting panel k', raised a little above the flanges c which bear against the marker holder d. The types are struck up from the salient panel la in the same manner as in the form shown in Figs. 2-5. In the margin of one flange la is a notch n. to coperate with a complementary projection on the holder, and extending from the opposite flange le is a finger piece m. The salient panel la not only provides a lengthwise extending rib or corrugation which strengthens and stiffens the marker, but also raises the type suf- [iciently from the holder d so that in use the retaining lips or other means on the holder d which secure the marker in place, shall not strike the paper as they might do with the name plate shown in Figs. Qf-5 if the types were not sufiiciently high.

Whichever form of marker is used, the mode of inserting4 it into the stamping de'- vice and removing it therefrom is the same. It is placed under the holder d with the types projecting downward, and the edge having thev recesses is placed in engagement with the yielding catches or lips ,and the plate 'is then pushed backward until its opposite edge will pass under the lip h, thus holding the marker in position on thevunder side of the marker holder d. It will be noticed that the lip l1. is omitted at the place Where the finger piece m or m extends from the edge of the marker, so that the finger piece may be used for inserting and removing the marker. To remove the marker the plate is pushed by the finger piece in the direction of the yielding lip until the opposite edge can be swung down clear of the lip h, whereupon the marker will drop out.

It will in general be necessary to have only one projection j and one corresponding complementary recess end where the device is to be ussed in but a single store. If, however, a single markeror name plate is to be used in a similar manner in several stores it should be provided with several recesses a or n', as shown in the drawings, each of which is the complement of and is adapted to fit a corresponding projection j in different stamping devices. Each store employing the system' will have a uniform set of stamping devices with a projection y' of a form or location peculiar to itself. Thus, a single namegplate may -be used in 'several different stores, but in no case willl the marker holder receiveand fit a marker which is not provided with a recess which is lmeans of identifying the customer, dispensthe complement of the u rojection on the stampmg device with whlch it is authorized to be used.`

While the invention is intended to be used generally wherever the name and address or other datalare to be stamped or imprinted on sales slips, it is particularly adapted to those transactions known in retail stores as charge transactions, that is, to imprint on the slip the name of the purchaser who has a charge account with the store. Under the present practice it is customary for such customers to give their name and address and to exhibit some store coin or similar means of identification. The name and address have to be given and Written for each purchase for the purpose of accounting and also frequently for delivery instructions. This causes much delay, especially Where other customers areA Waiting, and results in haste which often causes the mistakes above referred to. IFurthermore, where store coins are used for identification, each store issues its own particular coin, and if a charge customer trades in several stores it is necessary to carry around a number of these coins, which is a cause of complaint both because of the weight and bulk of the coins and because the chance ofloss of a coin is increased when a large number of coins are used. The present device not only effects the improvements above mentioned vin recording the transactions where goods are to becharged or delivered, but also aHords an improved ing with the necessity of a number of coins.

With this device the store first issuing the marker to a customer with that customersA name and address embossed upon it, punches a notch or recess to correspond with its own marker holder. The marker is .of a size and shape which makes it no more incon-v venent to carry in the pocket or handbag than a calling card. When the customer enters the store to make 'the purchaseV on account or for present or future delivery, the marker is produced vfor identification and the sales person inserts the marker in the stamp as above described and imprintsthe name and address on the sales slips. The customer does `not have to spell the name or address, nor does the sales person have to write it. The stamp and marker does all this rapidly and accurately. If the customer has no charge account at'the store 120 that fact will at once be detected becausel the marker will not fit into the stamp since the marker holder and any authorized marker will have mutually fitting contours such that the holder will receive and fit only a marker having a contour which is the complement of that of the holder. The same metal name plate will serve the same purpose in any and all stores which adopt the device, but each separate store will out a '130 recess in the marker in a form and location adapted to tit only the stamping devices used in that store. Such recess Will be made by a given store, andthe marker will therefore become an identification means for that store, only When the charge account has been duly opened after the usual investigation made in such cases. Thus the metal plate may have one recess only when authorized for use in one store, or it may have several recesses for use in several stores. This protects the store against the improper use of the marker as an identification means. As the stamp is intended to be used with carbon paper sheets rather than with inking devices, the marker is always in condition to be handled Without danger of soiling the hands or `the goods.

I claim n 1. A stamping or printing device, comprising a marker holder, and a marker removably secured on said holder, said holder and marker having mutually fitting surface contours of irregular form of Which one is the complement of the other, Whereby the holder Will receive and fit only a marker having the contour which is a complementof that of the holder.

2. A stamping or printing device, comprising a marker holder, and a marker removably secured on said holder. said holder having a projection on its marker receiving surface, and said marker having a corresponding and complementary recess.

3. A stamping or printing device, comprisinga marker holder. and a marker removably secured on said holder, said holder having a projection near one'edge of its marker receiving surface, and'said marker having a corresponding and complementary notch in its edge.

4. A stamping or printing device, compri-4 edge.

5. A stamping or printing device, comprising a marker holder having fixed retaining means on one edge and yielding retaining means on the opposite'edge, and a marker plate adapted to be removably held on said marker holder by said retaining means, and a projection extending from the edge of said marker plate beyond the edge of the holder on the side opposite to said yielding retaining means.

6. A' stamping or printing device, comprising a marker holder, having a projection on its marker receiving surface, a fixed retaining lip on one edge of said holder and a yielding retaining lip on the opposite edge of said holder, and a marker removably secured to said holder by said lips, having a recess corresponding in shape and position to the projection on the holder.

Signed by me at Boston, Massachusetts, this 27th day of October, 1914.

FRANCIS W. TULLY.

Witnesses:

ROBERT CUSHMAN, RICHARD W. HALL. 

